work

It is finals time around here. We are lucky to have the entire week of Thanksgiving off so that students can travel home. Thus, we complete the trimester before we leave and start fresh in December.

Some students are lagging these days. They truly are ready for break. At times, I feel like this too. The schedule here is demanding in many ways, and you don't truly get a break unless you leave campus.

Others are in a frantic mode of studying for finals. For some, this is the chance to final eke that A- up to their preferred grade. I feel this in myself, as I desperately try to plow through the last of my grading to hand back. I prefer to hand back work much quicker, but taking my own class this term has slowed me down. I'm also still writing my tests and must finish today so I have time to copy.

Still others have done the math and realized that simply passing their final will be sufficient to keep their grade stable. This is especially true for B and C students who are happy with their work (or those who realize that only a 99% can pop them up to the next level). These students are relaxed and ready to go home. This breed of student is rare, but it exists. I am not at all like this, but Matt fits the category well. His finals have been copied for a week. He knows what his preferred level of work is, and he can relax once he reaches that level.

In all areas of our school, we can see each of these students. While people can change, this definitely mirrors how they might approach life as an adult. We see similar habits as we approach large holidays and landmark celebrations.

Are you the major crafter who must pull off a homemade event, or are you the type who is happy to put out some beer, cheese, and crackers? In what spirit of mindfulness are you approaching the busy time that is coming up?

Following up on my recent post about job fairs, I have a job for next year! I obviously won't be saying where, but I will reveal that it is within a decentish commute for me. Less than an hour, thankfully. I had interviews (from the job fair) in a few different cities that would have had me living separately from Matt, and I'm excited that I won't have to.

This job actually didn't come from the job fair, but I am glad I had the experience of the job fair to help me warm up. Going into the interview, I didn't think I was even a contender. Fairly sure that helped set me at ease and made it a better interview.

I will be teaching three different preps. In teacher talk, this is a lot of work but not too much. Some teachers, in the small schools, teach five completely different classes. I'll be mostly teaching biology with a section each of an introductory science class and a higher-level environmental science-type class. The outdoor class is actually the most exciting for me, as I will be the only one teaching that class. I have mostly free reign, so I am spending time considering what I want that class to be. I will be spending a lot of July planning that class and charting a direction.

I feel relieved to have a job in this economy and hopeful for my fellow teacher-graduates who are still looking. Thanks to all of you for your support and well wishes in my process. While I won't blog directly about work, I am hoping I will have a few nice observations to share at some point.

There's a job fair today, and I am a little bit nervous. I'm never quite sure what to do at job fairs other than chat folks up, and I imagine this job fair will be plenty busy with lots of folks trying to do just that.

This is the downside to finishing school: I must now be an adult and get a job. I am really looking forward to actually having a job, but I don't think I am alone in dreading the job search portion of the process.

The worst part might possibly be developing an elevator pitch, where-in I must show that I am excited but not too excited, prepared, poised, and exactly what they want all in just a few seconds.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, folks. I imagine this is just the start of a long slog.

I'm teaching a day camp on turtles this week. Today, my 4-6 year olds got to touch turtles, make their own turtle shells (out of tissue paper and paper plates), and got some turtle clues from old turtle.

While looking up something about turtle anatomy for the class, I stumbled upon this humorous passage. It's not quite appropriate for the age group in my class, so I thought I'd share it with all of you:

The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks
Which practically conceal its sex
I think it clever of the turtle
In such a fix to be so fertile.
-Ogden Nash

It's egg laying season for turtles right now. Turtles leave their ponds to go lay eggs in dirt/rocks/sand, and this often requires crossing roads. Please remember to watch the road as you drive around!

The snake at work laid eggs! It was the craziest thing to watch. I took a video on my cell phone but haven't had time to try and piece it together for uploading to youtube. Maybe some day when I'm not busy biking, running, gardening, or playing board games (wow, I just made my life sound more entertaining than I think it is!).

Here's the egg coming out (whoops, wrong pic the first time!):

And here she is with 3 of her 10 total eggs. The eggs were taken out to be misted and incubated to ensure babies. In the wild, snakes lay their eggs underground in damp areas so the eggs stay moist. Then, they leave the eggs and go about their merry business; they don't take care of the babies. Since they can't dig in a wood bottomed cage, it's not the best place to leave the eggs.

And, just for fun, a picture of me with one of our other snakes at work. I do enjoy getting to handle the snakes frequently.

I have a story sitting in my head right now. I was washing dishes and listening to Death Cab for Cutie's "I will Follow you into the Dark." Excellent, melancholy song. I'm working on learning it for the uke, but it has some difficult chords. In any case, the song is only peripherally relevant. One line brings me back a few years: "illuminate the 'no's on their vacancy signs."

In the summer of 2005, I moonlighted at a motel. I have so many entertaining memories from that job. It was actually a lot of fun, and the only truly disappointing part was my meager wages.

One night, a woman stumbled into the office. She'd just driven up, but it was clear that she wasn't in any shape to be driving. She loudly exclaimed "I need my room!"

Uh, room? What room? Do you want to reserve a room?

"No, I have a room. I paid already. Where is my room? I'm in 6."

I scoured the computer for her reservation, looked through receipts, and tried asking her all sorts of questions. I couldn't find her anywhere. Maybe she was staying at Motel 6, on the other end of town? A quick call into them determined that she hadn't been there either.

"No, I paid thirty-five dollars, and I want my room. See, I have my key!"

Wait a sec, key? She pulled out an honest-to-goodness key with the number 6 on the key fob. We certainly didn't use a key, and I haven't been to a motel with a key in years. Only one place in town would a) sell a room that cheap and b) be cheap enough to still use actual keys.

A phone call there confirmed it; she was staying at the dive motel in the middle of town. I explained directions, but I'm not sure how much she really understood. All I know is that she hopped into her car and drove off.

Ever since, I've wondered about that lady (and many other kooky characters I met at this tiny motel in a tiny town). Should I have called the cops? The town itself was only two miles long; not much to hit, but if she did hit something, it wouldn't be good. Should I have put her up at our place for the night, even though she didn't pay? Was she sent to teach me a lesson, or is this just another one of those unfortunate occurrences that happen from time to time? I often think we live in a divided country that houses many lost souls that most of us rarely experience more than in passing.

I'm pleased to say that after several months of searching (and subbing), I have gotten a seasonal position. For the next six months or so, I will be working as a naturalist at a nature center on the south end of the Twin Cities.

My job duties will mostly involve teaching homeschool and fieldtrips for the school year, and then I'll switch to teaching summer camp. I'm sure there will be many more job duties I'll discover as I work my way in.

My field -- environmental education -- is an interesting one. The jobs are a lot of fun, so there is high demand and a large pool of workers. Therefore, it takes quite a bit of experience to advance. People typically start by doing internships for a year or two, and then they move into seasonal naturalist positions. I've got just one year of internship (here in Minnesota) and three months of seasonal naturalist (in Maine). I'll add another six months now, and some people credit me three more months for working at the canoe/river camp in Ann Arbor. I'm slowly building up the experience necessary to move my way up in the field.

We'll see what the future holds. Returning to school to work on a teaching license is another strong future possibility, as is looking for more permanent positions. For now, I'm excited to head back to work.

I've been underemployed for a month and a half now. I get occasional working from substitute teaching, but most days are completely free for me to spend as I wish. I've heard from a lot of people who say "how exciting! You can do whatever you want, and you have plenty of time to volunteer!"

There are definitely upsides. I do get to do whatever I want. Some days, this means lots of practicing ukulele. Other days, that means cleaning the apartment and working on job applications. Unfortunately, there are also days where I spend too much time in bed, even more time on the internet, and feel awful for not getting much done.

I would like to volunteer somewhere, and I've got a few ideas mulling around in my head. However, having regular volunteer hours doesn't work well with the substitute teaching gig. I'm also waiting to hear back on some jobs that start in March, and I would be unhappy to volunteer somewhere only to renege if I get a full-time job.

On the whole, I'm not happy being a housewife. I have been trying to get to the library or go for walks just to give myself something to do outside of the house. It's far too tempting to sit around all day procrastinating while I attempt to do what I'm "supposed to" (mostly those job applications and keeping the place clean). My days just aren't fulfilling, for the most part.

I think this would be different if I were a dedicated housewife; that is, if we had consciously made the decision for me to stay home. There is satisfaction to be had in putting a nice dinner on the table and keeping a clean house, but it is hard for me to see it as satisfying when I feel like there is so much more I should be doing. Certainly, if we had kids to take care of, I would feel like my days were much more productive.

For now, I'm doing the best I can working when possible and trying to stay hopeful. A lot of new jobs in my field are opening up soon, and I'm also reach my personal deadline for starting to apply for any job rather than trying for my ideal jobs. In the meantime, at least our apartment looks nice, and I'll try to be happy with achieving that each day.

1. Sometimes your goals change. Meeting someone "special" has definitely shifted my priorities, both consciously and subconsciously. (I'm still working on the 101 things, but I'm no longer sure that I'll achieve all of them.)

2. Four medium to large size apples is enough for four cups. You don't need twelve apples to make a pie. Hey, don't laugh! It's my first apple pie. Well, apple and cheese pie. More on this later

3. Initiative will go a long way. From going into my local school district office and just asking, I've now got paperwork to fill out in order to get a short-term sub license in Minnesota. Yes, you need a license even to substitute teach. At least I don't need a full teacher's license, though I would need one if I wanted to sub for the same teacher for more than 14 days.

4. Cleaning is a lovely mood lifter. Okay, I didn't just learn this today, but it's definitely lifting my mood to clean up our place. I'm still unpacking from Maine (one box left), but my problem now is finding places to put things. I see decluttering in my future.